Visitors Kraig Koester and Justin Lodge introduced themselves as board members of the Granville Recreation District who wanted to become acquainted with our commission as our two groups will have some areas of overlap, such as Wildwood Park and Raccoon Valley Park, which is land shared equally by the village and the township.

Opera House Park – Although we were hoping for removal of the shrubbery and hemlocks on the east side of the park this fall, this may not happen until 2012. There is money the village has available for capital expenditures and we can and are applying for additional funding for use in Opera House Park. Don Hostetter is drafting our letter to village council, which will include our plans for maintenance and improvements to the park done in phases over the next few years.

Following the article in The Sentinel which mentioned our desire to plant burning bush shrubs in the park, we received letters from two citizens concerned about the invasive nature of burning bush. We re-examined our options, and Don Pheneger found a non-invasive cultivar, compactus “Rudy Haag.”

Fall Urban Forestry Conference - Don H. reported on the conference we attended on October 27th at Dawes Arboretum. The Emerald Ash Borer has now been found in New Albany. Don H. suggested we invite Paul Kanninen, quarantine officer from the USDA to come to speak to the community to increase awareness of the EAB and the Asian Longhorned Beetle.

Fall Tree Planting – We asked for bids for thirty-six trees to be planted; all four landscapers returned bids with Albyn’s being the lowest at $6,904. We’ll plan to put stakes in the sites and notify homeowners.

Tree City USA - applications are due in by December 9th to Lisa Bowers.

The Pin Oak tree in the Old Colony Burying Ground was re-measured by Jeremy King and Don H. using instrumentation to get an accurate reading of 138.2 ft. in height, 134.2 ft. in canopy spread for a total score of 371. Granville currently does have two Flowering Dogwoods in Maple Grove cemetery that are listed in the Ohio Big Trees Register. We will nominate the Pin Oak specimen tree before next July for the 2012 Ohio Big Trees listing.

Reports

Jeremy demonstrated the online web page for Denison’s arboretum. By going to a campus map of trees and clicking on a specific tree, one can now obtain the common name, scientific name, height, circumference, any memorial information or history of the tree, along with information about the species. In addition, they have marked thirty-four of their memorial trees with plaques. Some are designated with an Ohio outline to show it is a native tree and all have a QR code for more information. Each tree is also assigned an identification number beginning with DUARB. Jeremy also shared with us copies of the new color pamphlet “A Walk Among Giants” they have created showcasing Denison’s arboretum trees. There is a photograph not only of the tree, but also a close-up of its bark. Survey data from Davey can be imported to Google Earth.

Darren reported that the leaf pick-up crews have been able to keep up and street department employees have also been setting up for the Christmas Walking Tour on December 3rd.